Investment trust specialist Nick Greenwood has resigned from Premier Miton, forcing the Migo Opportunities Trust  (MIGO) to launch a ‘beauty parade’ of fund managers.

The £86m trust, whose portfolio is made up of other London-listed closed-end funds, announced that it had been informed of Greenwood’s planned exit and had served six-month’s protective notice on Premier Miton as fund manager.

Greenwood, a well-known commentator on investment trusts, has run Migo since its launch in April 2004 when it was known as Iimia, a reference to the predecessor of the Miton Group that merged with Premier in 2019.

He also manages the £46m Premier Miton Worldwide Opportunities fund, an open-ended portfolio with a similar approach to scouring the sector for bargains.

Greenwood is moving to work at another firm rather than retiring, it is understood, raising the prospect the trust may decided to follow the manager to his new employer.

Numis Securities, the trust’s corporate broker, expected there would be interest in other fund groups in the mandate. 

Migo’s board said it was now reviewing options for the future management of the trust, including a proposal which could see Premier Miton stay on.

The strategy is not expected to change and the directors assured shareholders any shift in investment policy would be put to a vote.  

In the interim, Greenwood will manage the trust and the open-ended fund until the end of January 2024, assisted by Ian Rees, deputy head of Premier Miton’s multi-asset fund of funds team.

Winterflood analyst Emma Bird said, ‘it will be interesting to see whether the board has sufficient confidence in the remaining multi-asset team at PMI to retain them’.

Charlotte Cuthbertson had previously been Greenwood’s deputy on both the closed-end portfolio and Worldwide Opportunities before leaving in November. She has moved to wealth manager Tyndall.

‘Nick Greenwood’s portfolio management expertise and investor engagement have been an important and long-standing factor underpinning Migo’s success. So given his decision to leave [Premier Miton], it’s prudent for us to review Migo’s management arrangements,’ said board chair Richard Davidson.

Migo’s portfolio had delivered an underlying net asset value total return of 250% over two decades since launch, he noted.

Davidson added: ‘There is good demand and a clear place in the market for its specialist investment strategy as a one-stop-shop for attractive investment company opportunities, backed by a rigorous selection process and careful portfolio construction.’

The firm confirmed it would submit a proposal to continue managing Migo, as well as noting Rees’s 20 years of experience running multi-manager funds at Premier Miton and ‘specific expertise’ in closed-end vehicles.

The shares eased 4p, or 1.2%, to 335p. Helped by a discount control policy, the stock trades close to net asset value, although Numis said there was a risk of a de-rating from ‘knee jerk selling’ by self-directed investors who hold over a third of the shares on the Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and Interactive platforms.

Over three years the shares have delivered a 36.6% total return, below the 41.7% from the MSCI World index, but above the 32.1% average of the Global trust sector, according to Numis data.